Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 14:04:12 -0500 From: Dave Mitsky Organization: PSGHS To: spider Subject: 1999 Messier Marathon Greetings, I participated in a Messier Marathon at the East Coast Star Party on Friday, 3/19/99. Unfortunately, I arrived at the observing site too late to bag many of the early M objects. Even though I spent some time observing non-Messier objects through other people's scopes I managed to log 80 Messiers. Below is a revised copy of my sci.astro.amateur report. Dave Mitsky The East Coast Star Party/Messier Marathon, 3/19-20/99 I attended Kent Blackwell's BBAA East Coast Star Party near Coinjock, North Carolina this past weekend. It was a rather long drive from Harrisburg, PA and when I finally reached the observing site at the Hampton Lodge Campground (36.42 degrees north, 75.93 degrees west) on the Back Bay night had already fallen. The young crescent moon, Saturn, and Venus formed a picturesque triangle in the western sky. Venus and Saturn were a mere 2.4 degrees apart. I had not run into Kent since the 1998 Stellafane Convention and it was certainly good to see him once again. We had spent quite a few nights together observing the wonders of the southern skies on the upper decks of the MS Veendam during a cruise to see last year's Caribbean solar eclipse. Although I arrived too late on Friday to log the early Messier objects and spent a good hour or more looking through other people's scopes at critical periods, I still managed to observe 80 Messier objects using only a Telrad as a sighting device. My 12.5" f/4.8 Starsplitter Compact Dobsonian and 32mm Meade SWA, 19mm Tele Vue Panoptic, 12mm Tele Vue Nagler, and 6.7mm Meade UWA oculars provided able optical assistance. I viewed a number of objects through Kent's new 25" f/5 ATM Dob including Comet C/1999 M5 (Linear), which appeared to have a faint tail at 159x (20mm Nagler). At 25 inches of aperture NGC 2359 (Thor's Helmet), NGC 2261 (Hubble's Variable Nebula), NGC 4565, and M51 (and NGC 5195) were all spectacular under the sixth magnitude dark skies. Roy Diffrient's award winning 18" f/4.5 ATM Dob gave excellent views of a number of esoteric planetary nebulae such as Abell 21. Much later Charles Allewelt's 10" f/6.6 Dob and 8mm Brandon eyepiece did justice to Mars. It was a pleasure to see NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri) and NGC 5128 (Centaurus A, the Hamburger Galaxy) for the first time in a year through Charles' scope and Scott Donnelly's 100mm Miyauchi binocular. Later still Charles and I looked at the North American Nebula through his nebula filtered 4.25" f/4 Astroscan. As the dawn broke in earnest I frantically located as many summer M objects as possible. I had to move my telescope to pick up the final two, M6 and M7. If I had had just another half hour of darkness my total would have easily exceeded 90 Messier objects. (Well, at least I logged all of the Messier galaxies in Coma Berenices and Virgo.) Soon Mars was the only object still visible to the naked eye and I took a "quick" look that lasted well over 15 minutes. The seeing was excellent and the brightness of the sky made a filter unnecessary. I was able to use my maximum magnification of 455x (6.7mm UWA and 2x Celestron Barlow lens). Mars appeared as a pale pink and Hellas and the NCP were easily visible. It was by far the best view of the Red Planet that I have had so far this year and with a fast Dob no less! This was a very laidback and enjoyable back star party. A cookout and some door prizes, which included some humorous gag gifts given as prizes in a Messier object quiz (I won a bag of Atomic Fireballs), made late Saturday afternoon delightful. Throughout the afternoon we looked at sunspots through Charles' Astroscan and the big Miyauchis. The unseasonal temperatures were on the chilly side and frequent wind gusts called for warm clothing on the first day of spring. The weather reports for Saturday night were not promising and sure enough the leading edge of the front that dumped rain on the east coast on Sunday meant that observing came to an end sometime after midnight. Until that time the conditions, while not as good as the night before, were still more than acceptable. Since Saturday night proved to be a good deal colder than the one before, dew was not a problem. Long before the unwelcome clouds arrived we observed the moon, Venus, and Saturn through a number of different instruments. I was able to bag a number of the brighter M objects (M41, M42, and M45) in the ebbing twilight. Young Marc Daniels began working on the Messier Marathon and managed to log an impressive 66 objects with his 6" f/8 Meade Starfinder equatorial before clouds ruled the night. Maryland resident Roy Diffrient observed over 50 of the objects on Messier's famous list. A -5 magnitude flare from Iridium 82 at 23:59 UT and a pass by the Mir a short time later were enjoyed by the star party crowd. After moving my scope to a better vantage point I logged most of the early Messiers that I had missed the previous night (M31, M32, M34, M79, and M103) and then began observing a variety of NGC objects. I was surprised at how good NGC 2237 (the Rosette Nebula) and Thor's Helmet looked in Kelly Proffitt's modified 10" f/4.5 Coulter Dob and my 12.5" Starsplitter. Through Kent's 25" the Rosette's more prominent nebulous sections appeared as almost bright. NGC 3242 (the Ghost of Jupiter) was outstanding at over 400x through the 25". It was the best view of the "CBS Eye" that I have ever had. NGC 3242 appeared extremely blue in color through my scope at 48x (32mm SWA). After viewing a few more DSO's I logged a new Herschel 400 object located in Canes Venatici, NGC 4656. Also known as the Fish Hook Galaxy, this very elongated 10.5 magnitude edge-on spiral lived up to its nickname, as the northeastern end displayed a distinct curve. Unfortunately, I didn't think about working on the Herschel 400 list until it was too late and NGC 4656 proved to be my last celestial object of the night. On Sunday the rain made for a "pleasant" 8 hour return trip. Along the way I passed some very interesting vehicles: A number of antique automobiles, a convoy of Bradley APC's, a Bell helicopter on a flatbed, and three trucks towing what appeared to be a Civil War mortar and two field pieces. Dave Mitsky ASH, DVAA